MUSIC
S Club, the British pop group formerly known as S Club 7, are releasing a new single, “These Are The Days,” their first new music in 20 years. Performed by existing band members Tina Barrett, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O’Meara and Rachel Stevens, the song is by the songwriting team of Cathy Dennis, Simon Ellis, Johanne Ellis and producer John Nathaniel.
The track pays tribute to S Club member Paul Cattermole, who died earlier this year. Formed by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller in 1998, the single marks the group’s 25th anniversary and precedes a sold out 15-date U.K. arena tour planned for the fall, which has been renamed “S Club: The Good Times Tour” as a tribute to Cattermole by taking the name of an S Club song and a fan favorite on which he sang lead vocals.
S Club had four U.K. number one singles with “Bring It All Back,” “Never Had a Dream Come True,” “Don’t Stop Movin” and “Have You Ever” as well as the U.K. number one album “7.” They recorded four studio albums, released 11 singles that all entered the top 5 U.K. charts and sold over 10 million albums worldwide, winning two Brit awards along the way.
“These Are The Days” is out on July 26 via Universal Music U.K.
CIISA UPDATE
The U.K.’s Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority, a proposed independent body for the creative industry to prevent bullying, harassment and discrimination, launched its official website on Monday.
“Whilst we have seen signs of progress, with the introduction of new interventions and campaigns to address unacceptable behavior, we still lack an independent body that will provide a single point of accountability,” the organization said in a press release. “CIISA will address this vacuum – offering a range of interventions where there are currently gaps in provision. Our work to date has gathered a groundswell of support from organizations and colleagues across film, TV, music and theatre pro-actively coming together to tackle this issue. CIISA will not replace existing processes but recognizes there are still gaps such as dispute resolution and mediation, investigations as well as reporting unacceptable behavior.”
Jen Smith, the interim CEO of CIISA, said: “We go live with our website today, which shares more details about the foundations and principles of CIISA. We are carefully building a legally and technically robust organisation that will meet the needs of our industry to address bullying and harassment and bullying and harassment of a discriminatory nature. We have made significant progress since the idea was conceived and are grateful for the positive engagement and support for CIISA from across the creative industries which has been pivotal to our work to date and we will move forward with the next stages of detailed design from the autumn.”
AWARDS
The El Gouna Film Festival will fete Egyptian director Marwan Hamed with a lifetime achievement award at its upcoming sixth edition that will run Oct. 6-12.
The fest held in the Egyptian sea resort on the Red Sea is back in operation this year after being put on hiatus in 2022.
Hamed’s 2006 bold adaptation of Alaa Aswany’s bestselling novel “The Yacoubian Building” became a game-changer in Egytian cinema due to the way it depicted homosexuality, Islamic fundamentalism and government corruption. “Yacoubian,” which was the biggest budget Egyptian pic at the time, become a local hit and travelled widely. Hamed’s “The Blue Elephant,” a thriller with supernatural elements, broke Arab box office records in 2014, as did its sequel “The Blue Elephant 2.”
Hamed more recently shot the 2022 blockbuster “Kira and El Gen” about Egyptian resistance to British occupation.
APPOINTMENTS
U.K. producers body Pact has appointed Ross Lewis as head of international and projects. Lewis joins from the Department for Business and Trade where was senior account manager for screen (film and TV) and publishing. During that time Lewis managed relationships with industry bodies including Pact, the BFI, BFC, Film Export U.K. Lewis also sits on the U.K. Global Screen Fund steering board with DCMS and BFI.
At Pact, Lewis will be responsible for working with members across the U.K. to help them develop their export potential, discover global opportunities by addressing any trade barriers such as regulatory or access, and seeking to discover new business opportunities across key territories.
Pact CEO John McVay said: “Over the past 15 years we have seen massive growth in international sales and it is important to us to continue to support indies in exporting overseas, and we are confident that with Ross on board, members will continue to benefit from Pact’s expertise.”
Lewis starts from Sept. 11.
***
The BBC board has appointed Chris Jones as non-executive director and chair of the BBC’s Audit and Risk Committee (ARC). He will serve a term of four years on the BBC board from July 24. As chair of the ARC he will have responsibility for reviewing and maintaining oversight of the BBC’s financial reporting, internal control and risk management processes.
Jones was previously a senior audit partner at PwC specializing in the audit of banks and other financial services companies.
***
BBC Studios’ House Productions, the U.K. film and TV production company founded by Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell, has appointed Theo Barrowclough to an executive producer role. Barrowclough will work closely with Ross and Howell with specific responsibility for their film slate which includes “The Iron Claw” from Sean Durkin, Ed Berger’s “Conclave” and Daniel Kokotajlo’s “Starve Acre,” all of which have wrapped in the last six months.
Barrowclough joins from DMC Film where he most recently produced Charlotte Regan’s debut “Scrapper,” starring Harris Dickinson and financed by BBC Film and the BFI, which won the World Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2023. He is a co-producer on “The Kitchen,” directed by Kibwe Tavares and written by Daniel Kaluuya, for Netflix and was an associate producer on BAFTA-nominated “Calm With Horses,” backed by Film4 and Screen Ireland.
House is currently working with BAFTA-winning actor and director, Richard Ayoade who will direct a feature adaptation of “The Semplica Girl Diaries,” the Booker-winning author George Saunders story of the same name.
